Have you seen this meme pop up on your social media feed? It rears its ugly head about every six months on mine.
A bunch of people sitting on frozen bleachers, watching a football game, with the heading “If our churches had members with this kind of faithfulness and passion, we would change the world in no time.”
Ugh.
It makes me cringe because it represents something that pastors need to let go of and never should have used to begin with: attendance-shaming.
Attendance-shaming doesn’t work. There may have been a time when it did, but even then it didn’t produce the right results.
So, what’s the problem with the meme?
Sitting in church is not the primary sign of Christian “faithfulness and passion.” It cannot “change this world in no time,” no matter how committed we are to it.
Here are five big reasons to let go of attendance-shaming:
1. An Appeal To Duty Doesn’t Work Any More
For many years (possibly centuries) appealing to someone’s sense of duty was the quickest way to inspire them to action.
A once-a-year sermon on Hebrews 11:24-25 was enough to do the trick. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Tell a committed Christian they had a biblical obligation to come to church, and they did.
No questions asked.
But now they’re asking questions. And they should.
Not because church attendance isn’t important (it is) but because there’s got to be more to our faith than sitting in church every week, doesn’t there?
Thankfully, there is.
2. Church Attendance Is Not Our Primary Obligation
Attendance-shaming is an appeal to the idea that Christians have a duty to attend church as their primary religious obligation. While it is true that church attendance is an essential aspect of a Christian life, it’s not our primary obligation.
Church attendance is a tool, not a goal.
Instead, give them something positive to respond to, and something to do instead of just sit-and-listen.
3. An Appeal To Attendance Is Too Passive
Attendance-shaming doesn’t work because, even when it produces the desired result, mere attendance has no power to produce anything more than passive observers. And that’s not what God calls us to.
God calls pastors not to pack pews, but to disciple people. In Eph 4:11-12 Paul instructs church leaders to “equip the saints,” not just teach them. You can’t be equipped when you’re just sitting there, no matter how dedicated you are to it.
The whole paradigm of comparing church members to an audience at a sporting event is backwards. Church should be about engagement in worship, fellowship, and ministry, not passive observance. We’re not supposed to be fans, but players!
4. Attendance-shaming Takes Our Eye Off the Ball
One of the foundational principles of this ministry and of my latest book, De-sizing the Church, is that our obsession with attendance in the western church is dangerous.
One of its greatest dangers is that it creates the idea that getting more people in the building on Sunday is a goal to be pursued.
Attendance-shaming reinforces that false premise, which causes pastors to waste precious time and resources chasing something that is, at best, a secondary pursuit.
This is a problem for numerically successful churches as much (maybe more) than it is for those that don’t see the numbers rise.
5. Gathering A Crowd Is Easy — Too Easy
This may be the main reason why attendance-shaming has such a hold on us.
Gathering a crowd is so much easier than making disciples. Creating fans takes so much less effort than training a team.
But Jesus didn’t die to gather a crowd. And he didn’t call us to do that, either.
Let go of attendance-shaming. Embrace disciple-making.
You and your congregation will be better off for it.
(Lead Photo by Dave Goehring, on Flickr • Frozen Bleachers meme, unknown.)
